SBI launches ‘Financial Inclusion & Micro Market’ vertical

Chandigarh: In a major restructuring exercise, SBI, the largest lender of the country has created a separate FI&MM vertical within the Bank with an exclusive focus on Financial Inclusion &Micro marketsspecially in rural & semiurban areastovastly improve customer experience for the citizens in the hinterland. Under this newly launched Vertical,the Bank will offer loanspredominantlyforagriculture & allied activities, and micro/small enterprises.

About 8000 branches in rural and semi urban areas have been identified for providing specialized services to the micro segment including micro credit for small businesses andfarmers. The thrust is also to improve service quality and availability of banking services through the Bank’s vast network of over 63000 Customer Service Points in rural, semi urban, urban & metro areas. The new Vertical will provide a boost to the micro-finance sector.

Launching the Vertical, Shri Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI said “ Today is an important day in our resolve to ensurethat SBI stands with thecitizens of the country, across all segments. The key elements of creating the FI&MM vertical are to bring sharper focus to different business lines and improve the quality of interaction with customers at the Branch. This is a key initiative by SBI to cater to financial requirements of people residing in the hinterland of the country, as part of its financial inclusion journey. The new FI&MM Vertical will provide an opportunity to serve the small business,Agri & allied segmentso that they can run their businesses smoothly, especially in the current times of uncertainty. The creation of the FI&MM Vertical was conceived, created and implemented fully in house.”